i leave now, cheerful. >> stay away from the flagpole because it's very cold? >> yeah, and i will carry a cup of room temp water. >> have a great weekend. the news continues right now. ""cnn newsroom" with heidi collins. good morning. five americans arrested in pakistan. police say they plan to wage jihad in afghanistan. if you or somebody you love is a breast cancer survivor, you will want to hear about a new study that contain as warning about drinking alcohol. nude photos of tiger woods. the golfer is not saying they are out there, but he has a court order banning them. good morning, everybody, i am heidi collins, it's friday, december 11th, and you are in the "cnn newsroom."

this morning, new details on five young men who seemingly vanished from their washington, d.c. suburbs. today they are jailed in pakistan and accused of plotting terror attacks. both investigators from pakistan and the united states are trying to unravel the web of intrigue. we have an update on the status of the suspects. we are joined live from islamabad, pakistan. good morning to you. >> hi, heidi. we know the suspects have been removed from the stay of sarghoda. it is believed they were trying to make their way to afghanistan, and they made contact with two militant groups here in pakistan, both of whom had rejected them, refused to harbor them. piecing this altogether has been

fairly complicated. it's a very complex story, so to do that we took a trip to the city. it has become known as a strong hold of islamist groups, and now police say they thwarted a major terror plot. this is the room where wednesday they arrested five men that vanished from their homes in the u.s. at the end of last month. the police chief says a few minutes later and they would have been gone. he tells us they found maps highlighting known terror highlights and the e-mail account the they used to contact their halanders. now the five as well as the father of one of them are behind bars, and two are of pakistani dissent, and one eiththiopian a

all are americans. none have been charged, but police chief claims they could have pose add serious threat. >> they were mercenaries, and they were there for jihad. they could have done anything. they had u.s. passports. they could have access to many points which a lot of persons could not have access to. >> reporter: we meet the mother of one of the men, and she did not want to appear on camera for religious reasons. she says she came to pakistan two months ago to look for a wife for her son, and then he disappeared from their home. >> one day he told he will come back. monday, all he is gone and did not pick up the phone. the next day the parent told me all are missing. now i am told it's a serious thing. >> reporter: she does not believe her son could be

involved in a terror plot. she thought he had been kidnapped and alerted the authorities. a few days ago he and his friends showed newspaper pakistan, and he told her he wanted to surprise her. now the family is caught in the pakistani-u.s. web. >> they are making a story, because both countries are fighting each other and involving other family, and the people family are coming over here to visit marriage, and enjoy their home country. this is not admitting we are terrorists. >> reporter: now the town in pakistan is suddenly the focus of an investigation spanning continents. we just came back from an interview with the secretary of interior, and we asked him what he thought they it could have been. >> yeah, they do come to

pakistan to take part in the war against pakistan. and they had been working for al qaeda, and one of the organizations which stands banned, it's an organization in pakistan, and we have records of their contact with them and al qaeda. >> reporter: the arrests took place as the five were moving through the province. and they are concerned about the traveling through there. if they could succeed is destabilizing this area, they could succeed in destabilizing the entire country. and now the role of blackwater security guards in afghanistan and iraq. the "new york times" reports

private blackwater guards worked with the cia to capture agents. they were hired to provide security for cia agents. the private contractors played a more active role and wanted to grab and snag operations. the first of the new troops headed to afghanistan, and one of the troops is headed for southern afghanistan, the area of focus. 16,000 troops have their orders for afghanistan, and winter gear and other equipment already in the pipeline. last week, the president committed 30,000 additional troops to afghanistan.

they are all expected to be deployed by this summer. the new strategy is aimed at areas with heavy taliban presence. and some areas are already beacons of success thanks to the afghans themselves. barbara starr has more. >> the stunning beauty of afghanistan's pan shear valley. neither the invading soviets or the taliban were ever able to control this region. because the area is now relatively secure, u.s. troops stationed here are able to concentrate on encouraging the local afghan government to take responsibility for its citizens, a major priority of the new counterinsurgency strategy. >> we get to get out and work with the government officials,

work with the local people and make sure the basic services are being provided to them. we have been focused on building schools and providing basic electrical power through electric projects and providing clinics. >> you do not have taliban or insurgency activity here? >> no, no taliban or insurgent activity. no instance of any kind of taliban activity in the valley. >> reporter: we are taken to visit a school the u.s. built. and it's a freezing cold day, and these boys have walked miles to get here in the early morning. this cold remote valley is a place of great history to both the afghans of the panjshir and the united states. the first jaw breaker team landed here with trunk fulls of cash, and within days the war against the taliban would begin a war that still goes on today.

>> all up and down the valley, you still find rusted soviet army artillery, and a testament of the citizens here to keep out outsiders. here the u.s. soldiers have their own security force, local fighters who have sworn to protect the americans, fighters who once fought the taliban and the soviets. barbara starr, cnn, the panjshire valley. if you are headed outside, dress in layers. it's cold outside much of the country. and new englanders and people in the upper midwest are trying to dig their way out of the first big snowstorm of the season. wow! in south georgia, one man cannot believe he survived this. his mobile home obliterated by a

possible tornado. the owner and his dog were inside at the time. utility crews in california, rushing to restore power in the sierras just as another storm hits. rob marciano joining us to talk more about all of this. it was like 18 degrees with the windchill here in atlanta this morning. >> chilly. all the way down to the gulf coast, temperatures at or below freezing. if you did not get snow on the east coast with the blizzard that affected the country, now you are feeling the backside which is the form of just cold. and snow totals. across upstate new york, 21 inches there. on top of that down in the south we have a record high temperatures. miami, florida, 89. west palm beach, 87 degrees. and then we are talking about cold air all long, and transport your mind into southern florida. and a chance of showers will not

be ideal beach weather, but warmer than everywhere else. and then another system come into the west coast. and then ontario and erie, lake effect snow. you are talking about temperatures in the teens, and that bring the windchills down to around zero. one or two more feet expected across parts of upstate new york. we do have another weather system heading into the california area. heavy mountain snow is in the mountains, and subfreezing temperatures like portland and seattle, they may see low elevation wintry precipitation. we'll talk more about that in a half hour. getting money back from madoff. one year since his arrest now, and they are divided on a pay back plan. you want to watch hoops on the bus,

cartoons during your big meeting, and breaking news when it breaks. watch real tv whenever you want. you don't need to get a phone. you need a phone that gets you.

the obama's administration's pay czar announces another round of information about the pay cuts. we have been talking about the pay cuts for a long time. >> it's widely expected the pay master will talk about pay caps for the top paid employees. what this means, these are the companies, heidi, you and i have prompted up with big infusions of taxpayer dollars. this is not all banks. the big six.

chrysler, and chrysler financial, and gmac, and citibank. it's widely expected there will be a $500,000 pay cap for these employees. these are the employees who are number 26 to 100 highest paid at these firms. the first 25, as you know, he already announced some pretty strict pay cuts for those people, and strict in some cases and in other cases people think they were two lenient. and it would be a $500,000 pay cap. now, extra pay would be allowed if the company could show good cause. so we'll hear more from mr. feinberg about what would be good cause? is there wiggle room where compensation is a barrier from them keeping good people. this is something aig has said,

saying many good employees have gone because of the pay. heidi, this is the u.s. government still quite tough on bonuses and compensation for the firms that have been bailed out by you and i. >> yeah, it makes sense. if they have been given this money it should not be shelled out for the executives, except for the competition, we want them to hang on to the talent. what happens next here? >> well, that's the balance feinberg has to walk. he has to say these people will be compensated enough, but has to realize there is a public furor that they had the cash infusion. and many of the companies want to get out from under, you know, the grip of the government. separately, goldman sachs yesterday, which, by the way,

paid back its t.a.r.p. investment, is not one of the firms. goldman sachs says their top will not get cash installments, but they are trying to buy goodwill with the president. and i want to make a quick point. those are the top 30 managers at goldman sachs, and there are many, many more traders and executives, and portfolio managers, and a lot of other people there could still make a great deal of money. just a point there. >> understand. christine, we will watch this one. thank you. one man is dead after a shoot-out with an undercover police officer in new york's times square. the suspect was believed to be illegally selling cds on the

street, and police think he may also have been selling guns. the suspect fired two shots at the officer before his gun jammed. leaders from the european union are wrapping up a meeting this week with a $3.5 billion pledge. they say it's how they are contributing. they will donate each year. and nicole smith's former boyfriend and two doctors are due in court in a couple hours. they are being arraigned on drug charges forgiving her sedatives and opiums. if you are a breast cancer survivor or you know somebody who is, you need to hear this. new details about drinking and a possible recurrence of the

disease. stay right here. we have the story for you in a moment.

breast cancer survivors listen up. senior medical correspondent is here to talk more about this. this is a new study about the link between the two. >> doctors have always known there has been a link between alcohol and breast cancer. this study puts a number on it for people, for women that have survived breast cancer, what drinking alcohol means to them. let's see what they found, the folks at kaiser permanente. they found that women that drank three to four drinks per week, less than a drink a day, increased the chances they would get breast cancer again by a third. so three to four drinks a week were problematic for breast

cancer patients, and increased the chances they would get cancer again. >> they have known this for sometime for recurrence. if you had breast cancer, don't drink, is that right? >> they don't tell the breast cancer survivors not to drink. they say it will likely increase your chances, restrict alcohol. they don't tell them to drop it altogether. they say restrict alcohol and let them make a decision about what they need to do. >> why would it increase your chances of recurrence? what just breast cancer and not other cancers? >> because, alcohol seems to increase estrogen in your body, and it's the estrogen and breast cancer tumors, that relationship. answering the call to hate. militants are recruiting in the united states, and how some

young men from the washington suburbs may have been drawn in. [sound of starter pistol] the race is on. who's going to win? the health insurance companies or us? we need lower costs, choice and real competition. but the insurance industry is spending millions to stop reform and protect their profits. remember, if the insurance companies win, we lose. tell congress we need good health care we can afford with the choice of a public health insurance option now.

(p. darwin) to maintain energy security in this country, we need all sources. alternative energies, solar, wind. and there are vast resources of oil and natural gas here in the u.s. that are untapped. we're able now to access oil and gas a mile down and seven miles out. we can do this safely. we can do it in an environmentally friendly way, and provide enough energy to fuel 50 million cars and 100 million homes for 25 years.

it was one year ago today bernie madoff was arrested, and in the end he was sent to prison for running the scam. meanwhile, people that trusted him with their life savings are fighting to get a little bit of it back. and here is a tale of two of the investors. >> reporter: bennett goldberg bought a waterfront condo in ft. lauderdale. a decade of investigating with madoff gave him that feeling, until madoff's arrest. today, he is grateful to be

selling homes again and grateful to be among the first to receive a half dollar mi-- settlement. >> i was very happy with it. i thought that i was -- i was pleased. >> reporter: but other victims, senior citizens, who have had to come out of retirement have gotten nothing. >> i felt as though we were cheated. i felt violated. >> reporter: for years they had withdrawn earnings what they thought were from the account. they withdrew more than they invested, and therefore are entitled to nothing. >> they changed the rules in the middle of the game, which i don't think is fair at all. >> the net winners should be at the back of the line. first thing, it should be addressed that everybody get back everything they invested.

>> he got his money back, so why wouldn't he feel comfortable? it's the people that have not gotten money back that are not happy. >> reporter: investors feel like once again they are victims, while other madoff investors have received compensation to get back on their feet. a massive scheme carried out by a small number of people. we will look at where the madoff investigation stands. meanwhile, can investors make it a three for three? f felicia taylor is on wall street. >> a new report shows china's experts improved last month. and another report shows exports

here in the u.s. also improved. big question for wall street is are shoppers actually shopping? the answer is yes. retail sales rose 1.3% last month, and that's more than double expectations. a big portion of the increase was due to higher gas prices, but sales also rose in electronics, and department and home improvement stores. i have to tell you, across the board, most of the retailers are trending higher so far in early trade. two years after delays, boeing says its highly anticipated dreamliner will fly. there are reports the first flight could take place as early as tuesday. if all goes according to plan, it will mark a major milestone for doughing. boeing is touting the dreamliner that will save airlines millions in fuel and maintenance cost. the nasdaq and s&p are up, so

far a great day on wall street. >> thank you, felicia. here is the opening bell now at the new york stock exchange. it's riding a two session rising streak, and we'll look for a third. cnn security watch, five men who seemingly vanished are now in jail in pakistan. police there arrested men on wednesday. they tried to link up with militant groups and were plotting terrorists attacks. >> they were mercenaries. they were there for jihad. they could have done anything. they had u.s. passports. they could have access to many, many points which a lot of us could not have access to. >> also this morning, we learned that a police interrogation report says the men planned to go to afghanistan. by the way, pakistani police have also arrested a sixth man,

a father of one of the five suspects. help wanted, must be militant and want to go kill. not a want ad you will see here, but groups are recruiting americans. many of the sale pitches are taking place on the internet. brian todd with that story. >> reporter: a dentistry student at howard university seen here on his facebook page, one of the five young men that went missing and found in pakistan. the former muslim chaplin at howard did not have close connections with him, but gives new detail on what fellow students are saying. >> reporter: what did they tell you that romney saum saum was missing? >> this is the exam season at

howard university. if romney is not here now to take the examinations in his senior year in dental school, it means that he has thrown away the academic year, and if he comes back, not only does he risk this year, but perhaps maybe he has thrown away his hopes of having the life, the american dream, that his family sacrificed for. they are people of modest means. >> reporter: another student who knew the boy said he was devout but they did not talk politics. the five young men all worshipped at the islamic circle of north american and took part in youth activities. >> we feed the homeless. we go downtown washington and distribute food to the needy. they were engaged in all of those types of activities. >> authorities say he left behind a farewell video.

they pledge a new out reach video. >> we realize that the traditional ways of just bringing them into the mosque and sitting them down in the circle and talking, that's not happening now. >> reporter: one terrorism expert says the stakes are high. >> they believe there are a number of americans still at large in the tribal areas of pakistan, al qaeda's safe haven, and potentially receiving terrorists training over there causing a lot of concerns. >> as for these young men, they say they do not believe there were any recruiters physically sent to the united states to lure them to pakistan. they believe they were inspired to make the trip by the internet. >> also this morning, word that a u.s. drone attack killed the top al qaeda official. few details available at this moment, other than to say the strike took place in western

pakistan recently. officials are not identifying who the top al qaeda operative was, and they will say it was not bin laden or his lieutenant, wau hery. demonstrations in denmark. many people took to the streets saying mind your business, this is our climate. 40 people were detained. corporate ceos have been meeting there this week over the role they should play in the fight against global warming. they are laying out what should be done to curb greenhouse gases. heads of state will be there next friday to sign a deal. president obama is on his way back to the united states this hour. he returns as the world's newest nobel loriet.

he created buzz around the world by praising peace makers yet saying war is sometimes just unavoidable. severe weather center now, and rob marciano standing inside today, because he is smart, because no matter where you go across the country today it's freezing out there. >> i would go, but -- >> you are a little fragile, so i don't know. >> yeah, that's true. the decision was not to go. and, you know, when there is a lot of blue and white and stuff on the map like that, that means it is cold. detroit, 18 degrees. 29 in atlanta, and places like memphis, it's 28 degrees. you get the idea. the deep south is getting it as well, minus 1 in minneapolis. 15 degrees in portland. yesterday we showed you video of the water fall freezing out there. it has been an unusual stretch of weather.

not only across portland, but seattle, they set a record. places in nevada, flagstaff minus 5. they said a record with snowfall a few days ago and had a problem with the stranded hunters. and redding, california, 19 degrees. and we have another storm coming in to -- we'll get to that in a second. lake-effect snow is one to two feet potentially across parts of upstate new york, and the favorite spot is downwind of ontario and erie, where not only are we looking at winds in the 20s and 30s, but you have temperatures that are in the teens and 20s as well. so low visibility in the lake-effect snow bans, and blinding snow, but just dangerous windchills around zero degrees. and then in california, they are worried the ground will move. they did well with all the burn areas from last fall.

hopefully the ground has settled more, but they are taking precautions with seeing the ground move with what is coming in over the weekend. on sunday afternoons typically, it happened last night. a thursday night game in cleveland, ohio, where it was cold, the browns' fans did not care. browns and steelers, huge rivalry. and now that the steelers lost to the browns, they are pretty much out of it, defending champs, i might add, and browns took them 13-6. i think they had an 11 or 12 game losing streak there. i would put on a hat -- whatever he has in his hand. >> yeah, roast a pig. >> i love this time of year, heidi. i love going outside, but just dress appropriate for it, and

get in the spirit of the season. >> go vikings, and i knew you forgot to put knit in there. >> i knew you would. >> great. are democrats becoming comfortable with the public option? a look at the changing bills and the political rhetoric. and spending two hours in the chair. there's nothing like feeling the open air freedom of my jeep wrangler. to make vanity... fly right out the window. i live. i ride. i am. jeep.

checking the top stories. the wife of embattled governor, mark sanford, says she is filing for divorce. she says her decision came at unsuccess f unsuccessful tries at reconciliation. and then new sanctions over the nuclear program. gates also held a town hall meeting with u.s. troops in northern iraq today. a man accused of stocking

erin andrews plans to plead guilty in court next week. he is accused of videotaping andrews through hotel room peepholes while she was nude. andrews plans to speak at the hearing next week. there is a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the interstate stocking charge.

first, the public option, and then abortion. now another part of the senate health care bill is drawing criticism. there is a loophole in the senate bill involving coverage for costly illnesses like cancer. the associated press reports it would allow insurance companies to put annual dollar limits on medical care as long as the limits are not, quote, unreasonable. as you can imagine, patient advocates are speaking out against the idea. the bill does not allow definable business leaving that up to administration officials. looks like the controversy public option is dieing a slow death in health care reform legislation. senate democrats look like they will take it out of the bill. and speaker nancy pelosi seems to be backing away from her position. >> house speaker nancy pelosi this summer. >> there is no way i can pass a bill in the house of

representatives without a public option. >> reporter: yet now that senate democrats have a tentative deal to drop a public option, he is softening her stance. >> you said there was no way i could pass a bill in the house without a public option, is that still the case? >> we thought it was the best way to hold insurance companies honest, to keep them honest, and also to increase competition. if you have a better way, put it on the table. as soon as we see something in writing from the senate, we will be able to make a judgment. >> reporter: pelosi opened the door to a health care bill with no public options, as long as it has standards like competition. but the reaction from some of the most liberal lawmakers in her caucus is interesting. >> none of us care about what

it's called as long as people have the type of coverage they deserve. >> reporter: these members have v vowed to block anything without a public option. >> it's what appears to be. while i will not like it, i will not let that make me kill the program and the improvements in it. >> they like the idea allowing people to buy into medicare. >> if we are going to expand medicare, that's a public option. >> reporter: but to be sure, not all liberals will stomach compromise. >> we need a public option for the competition and choice and access. that's why we need it. >> reporter: many of the house liberals said they are waiting to see the details of the tentative deal they struck, and that will not happen until the congressional budget office

finishes the analysis, and they are really eager to get the health care bill to the president soon, and the house speaker said that could happen by year's end. new topping for your pizza? a little pot to go with pepperoni? you can get it at a denver restaurant, but you will be carded at the door, and a driver's license will narcotic cut it.

favorite story of the day here. when you think of a hobby for a 75-year-old grandmother of seven, you may not think of this, salsa dancing. check out the moves of patty jones. really? are you kidding me? i love it! the british retiree who lives in spain won a talent show with her dance partner many he's 40 years younger than she is. jones tells the times of london, when the music plays, i just want to move. i feel extremely that i can do what i can do and shall continue as long as i possibly can.

fantastic. medical marijuana patients in colorado can get their pot in pastries or pizza or even lasagna. julie visits a dispensary that doubles as a restaurant. >> reporter: you know, the whole thing is legal as long as you have your medical marijuana card. >> do you have your medical marijuana card? that's the first thing we would ask. >> reporter: that card gets you into ganza gourmet. >> we'd like them to come sit at the bar and give us their order. if they want to choose a table, they can choose a table, they can sit on the couch and we'll bring the food to them. >> reporter: evan is the pastry chef. >> when i had back surgery, medical marijuana smoking it wasn't an option so i figured i would cook with it.

la. >> it's also pricey. a brownie is $10 and a dozen lem lemon tartlets, more than $100. he used to make little magnets that real estate agents gave out. that tanked with the real estate market and he looked into opening a medical marijuana dispensary. >> what i discovered is they all ran good businesses but they were all about getting their patient in, selling them the medicine and getting them out. >> reporter: with live music, couches and the bud bar, it fills a niche. >> there were very few places that had a place to chill and meet people and none of them had an emphasis on food. >> reporter: medical marijuana patient don armstrong thinks it's a great idea. >> i only get out to the grocery store or the va. >> reporter: right now it's not zoned for a restaurant-style kitchen so they're making all of the food elsewhere. and horowitz like other people

with medical marijuana dispensaries are waiting to see what kind of rules and regulations the city and state come up with. >> steve tells the denver post if the city cracks down on the dispensary as a restaurant, he'll just offer his food items to go. now the latest chapter in the tiger woods' saga. the british high court has granted woods an order that blocks any nude pictures of him from being published. woods' lawyer says they're not admitting any photos like that are out there, but he says if they do exist, they may have been manipulated to create a false impression of woods in the nude. we have a lot of news to get to this morning. our cnn crews are standing by to bring it all to us. let's check in beginning with rob marciano in our toastly weather center. >> it's that time of year where it's cozy indoors and can get nasty outside. feet of snow piling up across upstate new york. the wind is blowing and cold air all the way down to the gulf of

mexico, plus there's another storm rolling into the west coast the weather at the top of the hour. >> reporter: i'm elizabeth cohen in atlanta. swine flu deaths more than doubled from mid-october to mid-no. all the details at the top of the hour. i'm stephanie elam in new york. electricity prices are going down but your electric bill may be going up. i'll explain why a few extra bucks a month could be a good investment in the country's energy future. that coming up in the next hour. >> thanks so much. plus, we want your reaction to a story we're posting on our blog. caught on camera, a woman who is nine months pregnant comes to the rescue of a police officer in trouble. she says she just couldn't stand by and do nothing. now we want to know what you think. would you do the same thing, save an officer in trouble or do you think she took too big of a risk? just go to our blog at cnn.com/heidi. we'll read some of the responses in the next hour.

the nation's housing crisis. millions of americans have lost their homes and millions more are now at risk, but only four

homeowners in 100 are getting help from their banks and a federal foreclosure program. now those banks are feeling new pressure to step up. cnn national political correspondent takes a look. >> reporter: daisy vidal thought he was one of the lucky ones. on a trial basis she was offered a more affordable mortgage thanks to the obama administration's homeowner relief program. so why is she still living in limbo. >> i feel frustrated because for me it's very difficult. >> reporter: after three months of steady payments, her mortgage company was supposed to make if it would make her temporary mortgage permanent. but instead for six months the company kept asking for more documents without making any decision. she worried she'd loose her house. >> i worried so much, when i hear a lot of people losing their houses. >> reporter: she's not alone. so far lenders are failing miserably at offering permanent new mortgages under the president's program. the treasury department expected

50 to 75% of homeowners in the trial phase of the program would get permanent mortgages. instead through november, the lenders made offers to a measly 4.3% of eligible homeowners. that's just over 31,000 people. some in congress say it's time to put the screws to the banks. >> we forced the lion to lie with the lamb. when you look closely, when the lion gets up, the lamb is missing and we are saying here kitty, kitty. >> reporter: the administration insists it's angry too. herb allison is a top treasury department official. >> we were going to move to the point where we're disciplining the banks if they don't perform better than they are today. >> reporter: the banks, which reid bailout money, insist they're doing what they can to keep up with overwhelming demand. >> our goal is to keep as many customers in their homes as possible. we understand the urgeacy of our solutions. >> reporter: after cnn's

inquiry, the company that holds vidal's mortgage determined she did not qualify under the president's program. still they're offering her a mortgage on their own. they add they have launched a number of pro active initiatives to help other homeowners who were having difficulties with president obama's mortgage program. treasury secretary geithner points out 75,000 american gotten temporary mortgages on the program and on average have seen their monthly payments reduced $550 a month. still treasury is stepping up its pressure on the banks, even sending what they're calling s.w.a.t. teams into the lenders to speed the process along. jessica yellin, cnn, washington. issue number one, still the economy. we're following new developments this hour. the retail sales numbers for november are just out. they rose 1.3% last month. more than doubling expectations.

happening this hour on capitol hill, a house panel holdings its fifth hearing now on the bank of america, merrill lynch acquisition. sheila baer is scheduled to testify and the pay czar plans to outline a new set of restrictions on executive compensation for companies that took bailout funds from the government. something we were talking about just a little while ago. meanwhile a final vote due in the house today on a bill designed to address the conditions that led to last year's financial crisis. cnn's felicia taylor is joining us from wall street to explain a little further. felicia, how big or wide reaching should we say is this legislation. >> reporter: this is massive. this pretty much covers any institution, large or small, that has anything to do with money. this has been a long-awaited financial overhaul and it's called the biggest in financial regulation literally since the great depression. it does have president obama's support but the bill is very complex. some democrats are not

necessarily in favor of certain portions of it. it's about 1200 pages long and the goal is to fix problems that led to last year's financial collapse, so i'm talking about banks, homeowners, borrowers, credit card holders, hedge funds, derivative traders. literally anybody that has anything to do with money. >> so an overhaul this big probably isn't an easy sell, i imagine. some of the obstacles that they'll be facing? >> reporter: absolutely. there are two crucial parts to this bill that need to be resolved before they take the vote. the first is an amendment that deals with the consumer. it would create the consumer financial protection agency, the cfpa. they must decide whether to keep or scrap it. as i mentioned, some conservative democrats are not in favor of this because they believe that it will hurt small businesses. it's a central feature of the legislation and if it fails, it will be a huge loss for the obama administration and the treasury. but there are some conservative democrats that, like i said, are looking for this to fail. it would consolidate consumer

lending regulations which are currently split among different agencies, like the fed, the fdic and the sec, the securities and exchange commission. but these new regulations would cover credit cards and mortgages and krcrack down on hedge funds which we saw a lot of abuse in the last couple of years. it also puts more oversight onto the fed. mortgage overhaul would be the second one. this is crucial, though, for individuals because we've seep b so many foreclosures this year. this takes a look at wanting to let bankruptcy judges rewrite mortgages that would eventually lower monthly payments to individual homeowners and, again, prevent the additional foreclosures. we've seen 300,000 in just the last month, so all of this comes as the government set to announce what you mentioned, payrolls for wall street firms. we saw earlier that goldman sachs is now only allowing bonuses to be given in the form of stock and those executives aren't going to be able to cash in on that stock for five years.

i'll have more on that in 30 minutes. >> all right, we'll watch all it. it makes your head kind of spin, that's for sure. also this morning we are watching the situation in pakistan. new details on five young men who seemingly vanished from their washington, d.c., suburbs. today they are jailed in northeastern pakistan and accused of plotting terror attacks. now investigators from both pakistan and the u.s. are trying to unravel this web of intrigue, if you will, arwa damon is tracking down the very latest details.

>> they were giving specific -- extra specific instructions, i would say, and the telephone usage was prohibited. >> reporter: now the five as well as the father of one of them are behind bars. two are of pakistani descent, one egyptian, one ethiopian. pakistani officials say all are americans. behind these toodoors are wheree six are being held, interrogated by both pakistani officials and by the fbi as well of the none has yet been charged but the police chief claims they could have posed a serious threat. >> they were mercenaries. they were there for jihad. they could have done anything. they had u.s. passports. they could have access to many, many points which another person could access to. >> reporter: also we meet the

mother of one of the men. she doesn't want to appear on camera for religious reasons. she says she came to pakistan two months ago to look for a wife for her son. then he disappeared from their home. >> and one day he told he will come day. monday he didn't come back, he didn't pick up the phone. the next day the parent told all are missing. then i told now it's a serious thing. >> reporter: she doesn't believe her son could be involved in a terror plot. she had he had been kidnapped and alerted the authorities. a few days ago her son and his friends turned up in pakistan. he told her he wanted to surprise her. now she says her family is caught in the middle of this complex pakistani u.s. web. >> they are making a story because they are fighting each other and involving other family. the people family are coming over here to enjoy their home country. this is not meaning that we are terrorists. >> reporter: now a provincial town in pakistan is suddenly the

focus of an investigation spanning continents. >> also this morning we learned that a police interrogation report says the men planned to go to afghanistan. by the way, a short time ago arwa conducted an exclusive interview with the minister who oversees the police. also under the microscope today a muslim cleric accused of lying to agents about a domestic terror plot. he is accused of withholding information about an alleged plot to bomb new york subways and buses. he's also charged with tipping off the alleged mastermind of the plot. you may remember this case well. prosecutors say zazi received explosives training in pakistan and drove from colorado to new york with bomb-making instructions on his laptop. so cold it stings. you know what i'm talking about. if you've been outside today,

especially in buffalo, new york. the snow was coming down sideways there yesterday. in lincoln, nebraska, ireporter josh helexa sent this video of a neighbor who turned his four-wheeler into a snow plow. and in placerville, california, utility crews are working around the clock to get the power back on just as another storm gets ready to hit. rob marciano standing by watching all of it for us this morning. this next storm that's coming could be as bad as the last one? >> i don't think it will be quite as bad. a series of storms, one coming in right now that's not terrible and one coming in saturday night that has a little more punch to it. that one will probably get into the rockies and into the plains like the last one did but i don't think it's going to be an all-out blizzard by any means. the back side of this blizzard is bringing in lake-effect snows across parts of upstate new york and northern parts of ohio. these are some of the tallies. this is early this morning so some of these numbers will be higher than this later this afternoon.

middlebury, new york, 21 inches. east aurora 16, over a foot in alma and lancaster and the foeshl forecast is a little bit more. they have got a long fetch because the west winds pretty much will parallel the coastline of erie and ontario and water trp pretty warm for this time of year and very cold air moving over them. 1 or 2 feet in some of these favored locations. on top of that, you've got cold temperatures. as far as temperatures right now in the teens, winds blowing 20, 30 miles an hour, that certainly makes for miserable conditions to say the least. los angeles to san francisco, we saw some rain earlier. now some of that rain has moved up into the mountains and that is causing some problems as far as snows in the sierras. winter storm watches or warnings posted. could see a couple more feet of snow by this time tomorrow or actually sunday. it will be 41 in denver, 38 in seattle. that's going to be a problem because as this next storm comes in, some of that moisture will

get up to places like portland, which have seen record-breaking low temperatures into the teens and they'll probably see some wintery precipitation. all right, a quick check on what's going on with the airports. la guardia an hour and 40 minute delays mostly because of wind. newark one 15. san francisco two-hour delays with that storm that's coming onshore right now. here is a live shot from kgo out there in the bay area. temps will remain in the 50s with breezy conditions at times. the next storm coming in tomorrow night with heavy mountain snows happening right now up there around lake tahoe way. so that's your forecast from coast to coast. heidi, record-breaking high temperatures across southern florida. >> i know. >> that is the one and only place in the lower 48 to escape these frigid temperatures. >> yeah. or get a really, really big jacket. thank you, rob. check back later. a clash on the streets of cuba. it's protester versus protester in a fight over fidel castro.

have put their faith in sun life financial. we should be a household name. and we will be. so you're suggesting that we change our name from florida, the sunshine state, to...? florida -- the sun life state. the posters will be so cool. sooner or later, you'll know our name. sun life financial.

újúj band now we're insuring overts do18 million drivers. gecko: quite impressive, yeah. boss: come a long way, that's for sure. and so have you since you started working here way back when. gecko: ah, i still have nightmares. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. (announcer) here's hoping you find something special in your driveway this holiday. ho, ho, ho! (announcer) get an exceptional offer on the mercedes benz you've always wanted at the winter event going on now.

but hurry - the offer ends january 4th. new information on a growing demographic in the u.s. latino youths. a recently released study says two-thirds of latinos ages 16 to 25 are native-born americans. in 1995, only half were born in the u.s. about 22% of hispanic youths are unauthorized immigrants.

latinos now make up about 18% of all youths in the u.s. and most are optimistic about their future. 72% expect to be better off financially than their parents. human rights protesters touching a nerve in cuba. yesterday a small number of marchers sparked outrage among a much larger group of pro-government demonstrators. it happened in the capital of havana. >> reporter: the message is loud and clear. the streets of cuba belong to fidel, fidel castro. between shoves and insults, more than 100 of fidel's supporters surrounded what had been a silent march to commemorate international human rights day. the target of their wrath was the women in white, the mothers, sisters and friends of jailed dissidents. things have gotten a lot more

confrontational. we've basically seen dozens of government supporters come out. we have the women in white shouting liberty and the pro-government supporters shouting this street belongs to fidel, out with the worms. luckily there hasn't been a whole lot of pushing -- [ inaudible ] for government supporters this march was orchestrated by an enemy government. they're mercenaries, one man shouts. they're paid by the united states of america, the same country that has a blockade on us who threatened our children, who killed more than 2,000 cubans. the women in white have marched in silence every weekend for six years, rarely meeting resistance. to demand the release of men they say are jailed for their political beliefs. this is an intolerant totalitarian government, she says. they don't want democracy, they don't want other people to express their ideas. they don't want free tomorrow of

movement. across town a handful of protesters were shoved into cars when they tried to stage a separate human rights march, and a british diplomat was mobbed by government supporters as he talked to the foreign press. >> i'm here from the british embassy just observing what's going on today. we saw lots of people. people being carried off. >> reporter: after more than two hours, the women in white make it back to the home where their march began, leaving the street to fidel castro's ardent supporters. shasta darlington, cnn, havana. a pregnant woman coming to the aid of a police officer under attack. and it's all caught on camera. the police officer was responding to a disturbance call in alton, texas, when a group of teenagers knocked him down and

started beating him. that's when angela gutierrez jumped in to help the officer. that's her there in the pink. gutierrez is nine months pregnant, due to give birth in just two weeks. but she said it was just a gut reaction to help the fallen officer. the teenagers are now in custody being held on $3 million bond each. the officer suffered only minor injuries. amazing. we want to know what you think about this. do you think you'd do the same thing or do you think she took too big of a risk? go to my blog, cnn.com/heidi and post your thoughts there. i'll read some of them coming up a little bit later in the hour. one in six of us has had the swine flu. new numbers on their way up. sure, decaf or regular? - regular. - cake or pie? - pie. - apple or cherry? cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream?

cream... please. when other toppings are made with hydrogenated oil, the real dairy cream in reddi-wip's sure an easy choice. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. fork or... spoon?

checking our top stories this morning, new details about the role of blackwater security guards in iraq and afghanistan. "the new york times" reports private blackwater guards actually worked with cia to capture suspected insurgents. blackwater now known as z was hired to provide security for cia agents. but according to former employees and intelligence officials, the private contractors instead played a more active role in what amounted to snatch and grab operations. a u.s. official tells the associated press that blackwater guards did not perform cia missions. the house intelligence committee is already investigating other claims that blackwater was used in the cia assassination program. in orlando, a court hearing this morning for a woman accused of willing her 2-year-old daughter. attorneys for cayce anthony are asking a judge to stop

prosecutors from seening the death penalty. she has pleaded not guilty in the death of her daughter last december. her death was ruled a homicide but a specific cause was never determined. leaders from the european union wrapping up a meeting this week with a $3.5 billion pledge. they say that's how much the eu nations are ready to contribute to a global fund to help poorer countries fight global warming. they will donate $3.6 billion a year through 2012. the announcement coincides with the climate summit going on in copenhagen. quickly pin pointing the source of tainted food during a contamination outbreak or bioterrorism attack. a new report says the government program responsible for doing that critical job is seriously flawed. under the program, food manufacturers and processors have to submit their address and contact information to the fda. that enables investigator to follow tainted food through the

supply chain. federal auditors found nearly half of the companies surveyed failed to give the fda accurate contact information. new estimates of swine flu are out, and they show a big jump in the number of people infected and those who have actually died of the disease. joining us now with some of those new numbers, cnn medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen. elizabeth, yeah, these numbers are different than most people are aware. >> absolutely. when i saw the jump in the number of deaths, i was really stunned. take a look at this. as of mid-october, this is how many people had died of swine flu. we're talking about 3,900 deaths from april to mid-october. but then when you go april to mid-november, so one month more, it jurps mps to 9,820 so it mor than doubled in just that one month. >> that's a huge jump. do we expect to see these fatality numbers to grow at the same rate? >> no, we don't expect to see

them grow at the same rate and i'll tell you why. since approximately the end of november the number of h1n1 cases has gone down. it sort of hit a peak and has gone down. when the number of cases go down you expect to see the number of deaths go down so likely won't see that jump again when they do these numbers in a month or so. >> when it's all said and done, and i know that's kind of an impossible thing to say because you never really know when it's going to be done, but is it going to turn out that swine flu or seasonal flu will actually be more deadly? >> you know, it's interesting. some estimates show that h1n1 won't be as deadly as just a regular seasonal flu. other estimates so that it might be somewhat larger. probably not hugely larger, but somewhat larger. but the real difference is in who dies of these flus. seasonal flu usually kills the elderly. h1n1 flu has been killing kids and young people. for example, let's look at these pediatric flu deaths. from seasonal flu, 88 deaths in the 2007-2008 flu year.

so 88 kids died during a given flu season. h1n1 flu has already killed more than a thousand kids. so you can see those are two very different numbers. that's why you see public health folks so concerned about h1n1 flu because it does attack kids in such large numbers compared to seasonal flu. >> is there a percentage that's been given on how much of the population as a whole has been affected? >> it's very interesting. if you assembled six random americans, chances are one of them has been infected with swine flu. that's right, one in six americans has now been infected with this virus that didn't even exist before april, which is pretty interesting. so if you're one of the five out of six americans that has not been affected, the centers for disease control urges you to get vaccinated. there's more an more vaccine on the market, it's not nearly as hard to find it as it used to be. 12 million doses on the went market last week. >> we are continuing to watch those numbers. thanks so much, elizabeth cohen. one year later now and

bernard madoff sits in prison. most of his victims, though, sit in limbo. we'll take a look at where the investigation stands right now. (announcer) time brings new wisdom new aches and pains, ...and new questions about which pain reliever is right for your body. tylenol 8 hour works with your body, with one layer that dissolves quickly... ...one layer that lasts all day ...and no layers that irritate your stomach the way that ibuprofen can. it's tough on your body pain. not on your body. it's tough on your body pain.

here's one for your skin that's clinically proven. olay professional pro-x wrinkle protocol is as effective as the leading wrinkle prescription brand at reducing the look of wrinkles. that's because olay has teamed with a highly specialized group of dermatologists and created a wrinkle protocol that gives you the results of the leading wrinkle prescription brand, 0! withoua prescrtion. olay professional pro-x. this is a guarantee you're guaranteed to love. hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! we're going on a field trip to china! wow. [ chuckles ] when i was a kid, we -- we would just go to the -- the farm. [ cow moos ] [ laughter ] no, seriously, where are you guys going? ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! [ female announcer ] the new classroom. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco.

your own seafood feast at red lobster. choose two or three from new creations... like wood-grilled shrimp with garlic creme and parmesan... to classics like succulent steamed crab legs. for a limited time, at red lobster. to classics like succulent steamed crab legs. this country definitely needs to focus on other ways to get energy. we should be looking closer to home. we have oil on our shores. natural gas can be a part of the solution. i think we need to work on wind resources. they ought to be carefully mapping every conceivable alternative. there is an endless opportunity right here.

immune plus shot. this little shot is more like a big shot of-- (dog barking) ...for your immune system. feel the-- (dog barking) feel the good checking issue number one, stories that matter to you. a positive snapshot on the economy this morning. november retail sales were up 1.3%, more than doubling economists' expectations. happening now on capitol hill, a house panel holding its fifth hearing into the bank america merrill lynch acquisition. lawmakers are looking into how a private deal turned into a federal bailout. also on the hill today, the house expected to vote on a sweeping financial regulations bill. the legislation is aimed at

correcting conditions that led to last year's wall street collapse. next hour on capitol hill, lawmakers will look at the home foreclosure crisis, specifically whether modifying loans will prevent more americans from losing their homes. a new. >> reporter: shows that only about 4% of troubled homeowners are getting mortgage help through banks and a federal rescue program. the government now plans to pressure the banks to help more people. the government has pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system, saving it from collapse. but all that t.a.r.p. money comes with major strings attached. today the pay czar will express new rules for wall street. felicia taylor has more. felicia, didn't the government already crack down on executive pay? >> reporter: absolutely. as ken feinberg announced new rules last october. his job, however, is to oversee

the top 100 earners. so feinberg is set to announce new rules for the remaining 75. it will affect companies that took those exceptionally large bailouts such as aig, citigroup, general motors, chrysler, chrysler financial and gmac. there are reports feinberg will impose a salary cap of half a million dollars. heidi, you well know, that's a fraction of what some of these guys make on wall street. >> yeah, yeah, definitely. in fact i imagine the reaction there, people on wall street, not very positive. >> reporter: well, you know, you have to look at it from both sides. this has been a major bone of contention. the biggest complaint is that the pay caps will prompt top talent to leave in search of higher pay at a time when many of these firms are still struggling and need to keep their top level employees. for the government's part, it's trying to quell public outrage but without hurting the industry. not surprisingly, some of the firms affected are trying really hard to pay back the bailout money under time. citigroup is recordly close to a

deal to receive some of its $45 billion. bank of america paid back its bailout on wednesday. so, you know, it remains to be seen. there's two sides to every situation and every question. on the one hand can you really limit the pay that these people make and will they leave and hurt the firms even more. so we'll see how it plays out. stocks, though, having a great day so far following a rally overseas. a report showing retail sales jumped last month, the consumer is out spending money. the dow industrials are up half a percent, the nasdaq is up a quarter of a percent and the s&p is also up about a half a percent. i should mention, again, retailers across the board are trending higher. macy's stock right now is up almost 4%. not bad. >> all right, very good. felicia, thank you. >> reporter: thank you. the next hot jobs, the labor department projects financial examiners and compliance officers are expected to be two of the fastest growing occupations over the next ten years growing by something like 30 to 40%. they're the guys who ensure that

banks, insurance companies and other firms follow state and federal rules. home health aides are expected to jump by 50%, due mostly to the aging population. car dealerships in danger of being shuttered may have a new lifeline coming from the government. the house approved a new appeals process as part of the massive spending bill. 1350 gm dealerships are expected to be closed next year. 789 chrysler dealers closed their doors earlier this year. well, the new bill allows arbitration panels to review each closure on a case-by-case basis. it was one year ago today bernie madoff was arrested. the government is still trying to untangle his web of lies and deceit. madoff swindled billions from investors. now those investors are at odds with each other over who should get paid back and how much. >> they changed the rules in the middle of the game, which i

don't think is fair at all. >> the net winners should be at the back of the line, that's all. you know, the first thing that should be addressed is that everyone get back everything they invested. >> he got his money back. why wouldn't he feel comfortable. it's the people who haven't gotten their money back that are not happy. >> the government is still trying to determine just how many people were taken by madoff. more than 1600 claims have been approved, but there are still many more being processed. the total haul from the scam, about $20 billion. andrew christman is the author of "betrayal, the life and lies of bernie madoff" and he joins us now to talk about where things stand. andrew, thanks for being with us. we appreciate your time. let's start with who's been punished here. where are we at on that front? >> well, i think everyone or a lot of people expected that bernie madoff's family would end up going to jail, you know. people felt, oh, they must have been in on it.

well, it's a year later and the only indictment have been people who worked under bernie madoff, the wife hasn't gone to jail, the two sons who worked for him haven't gone to jail and none of them have been indicted many the brother, who helped him found the firm hasn't been indicted. i think it raises the question about whether or not they were culpable as opposed to just turning a blind eye. >> yeah, yeah, certainly. a lot more to go there by way of questioning, i imagine. >> sure. >> in fact, we of course know that madoff is in jail, but what do we really know about him? there are some reports that he is not well and he's certainly not doing any big jailhouse interviews. what do you have on that? >> right. well, you know, i'm sure there are a lot of journalists looking for a jailhouse interview with bernie madoff. bernie madoff is a pathological liar. you know, whatever he says is going to be awfully suspect. meanwhile, he's living in a medium security jail and from all reports he's kind of the

king of the con artists there. he's got an open jail cell. he's not having the hardest time in prison. but he's going to spend the rest of his life there. >> yeah, certainly. in fact let's look at the victims for just a moment here. we have a graphic too that we can put up for everybody. we've got a number on the claims against bernie madoff. that's 16,000 tha been filed here. something like 11,563 to be exact have been processed, but 1,647 are determined to be valid here. this is our source at cnnmoney.com. why were so many of thee claims turned away? >> well, it's really tragic. there's so many victims who were living off of money that they thought they had, because bernie madoff would feed them a little at a time, but it turned out that bernie madoff statements were basically fiction. so there was one person i interviewed in my book who sold his kind of -- his chain of furniture stores, retired, moved

to florida and then refinanced his house and put all of that money into his madoff accounts because he trusted bernie madoff. well, all of that money evaporated and suddenly there are people like this gentleman who want all the money that they thought they had back from the government and that's not the government's point of view at all. they're basically saying we'll give you back what you put in and that's it because the rest of it was invented. well, you know, a lot of people think that these victims are aristocrats and wealthy people from palm beach, but in truth there are people who are now scavenging through garbage bins. another one is driving people to the airport just to afford his food. and these are the people who are, you know, desperate for money from the government. it's an agonizing situation. >> yeah, agonizing also because it's taking a long time. >> right. it's taking a long time. >> hey, can't we get this

figured out so that i can, as you said, that person you enter veed, so that i can eat. >> sure. i don't understand why it's taking such a long time. there's a -- there's someone who's been appointed whose sole job it is to disburse this money. victims are entitled up to half a million dollars in compensation, yet it's dragging on. meanwhile, in addition this monitor is also suing the feeder fund, suing people who benefited from madoff hoping to get even more money back. but these people deserve toly and right now they're having a very, very hard time because this is taking so long. >> yeah, yeah, certainly. when you've lost that much, boy, you certainly want it to go as fast as possible. >> sure. >> we appreciate your time. we'll continue to follow this story as long as it takes. thank you very much. >> thank you. paying less but trying to keep the lights on. don't get used to it. a rare price drop could soon go the other way.

...is now over the counter at walmart as prevacid 24hr - to treat frequent heartburn. over the counter. unbeatable prices. talk about a relief. save money. live better. walmart. start taking care of my heart, but i wasn't ready to give up taste. sometimes, sacrifice... is the name of the game. honey nut cheerios cereal... tastes great and can help... lower cholesterol. i guess i can do this. bee happy. bee healthy.

checking our top stories now, a man accused of stalking espn reporter erin andrews plans to plead guilty in court next week. michael barrett is accused of videotaping andrews through hotel room peepholes while she was nude. barrett's attorney says his client is also apologizing to andrews. andrews plans to speak at the hearing next week. barrett faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the interstate stalking charge. a warning of titanic proportions in australia. there's an iceberg headed their way. here's a satellite photo for you. experts say it is 12 miles long,

5 miles wide and is heading toward western australia with a fear that once it hits warmer waters it will break into smaller pieces and those pieces could be disastrous for ships. so sailors are being told to keep an eye out if they are in the area. snow plows and snow blowers getting a workout in iowa. nearly a foot of snow fell there this week making it the snowiest storm in almost 39 years. and in southern california, sandbags are piling up as the rain moves in there. people living in areas burned by wildfires a few months ago are now, of course, worried about mudslides. rob marciano is watching it all for us. >> you know, so far we've been pretty lucky with the last couple of rain events that we haven't seen many big slides. >> yeah, true. >> so maybe, you know, because they have kind of spaced out, maybe the ground is settling and the vegetation not as necessary as it might be. keep our fingers crossed because we've got a couple of storms coming into california right

now. heavy snow across the sierras. most of the rain is gone for now until storm number two comes in and that will happen tomorrow night. i think that's going to be the stronger one, both with rain, wind and mountain snow. so certainly be aware of that. also folks who live in oregon, it's been so cold for you, any sort of moisture could at least start in the form of sleet, freezing rain or snow so that will probably be the case tomorrow night. windy conditions across much of the east coast. this is all because of that storm, blizzard that came through. now the back side of that is bringing in winds across parts of the great lakes. so you're seeing winds that have a long fetch across erie and ontario so that picks up a decent amount of moisture. you've got temperatures only in the lower 20s so that means windchills well into the teens if not single numbers, so very impressive system. it will continue for the next 48 hours over that warmer lake water. the cold air comes and 1 to 3 feet of snow possible. we've already seen stuff like

that. 22.9 so far in colden, new york, and warsaw 18 inches. what do you do? check it out. this is what it looks like in rich esther -- rochester yesterday just blanket the that city in white. syracuse, buffalo and watertown similar scenes. this is reporter out of lincoln, nebraska, says if you can't rely on the public service, he got his four-wheeler out and started plowing the snow. so from lake-effect snow and the snow in the plains and the christmas lights setting that scene, you get out and have fun with the ole four-wheeler. if that makes you cold. in miami we set a record high of 89, west palm beach 87, fort lauderdale 87 degrees. >> boy, that sounds good, doesn't it? >> i'm breaking a sweat just thinking about it. it sure does sound warm and cozy. >> all right, rob, thank you. the government says the average cost of electricity will

be about 1% lower in 2010 than it was this year. now, that would be the first decrease in eight years. despite that, some power companies are raising their rates for 2010. stephanie elam has our energy fix from the cnn money newsroom in new york. what's up with that? >> reporter: it doesn't sound like it makes sense but power companies say they need the extra money to upgrade their infrastructure and regulators tend to agree. they approved rate hikes for duke energy and xcel energy that will add an average of $4 a month in both north carolina and colorado respectively. customers in minnesota and south carolina can also expect rate hikes. cases are pending approval in at least seven other states and the district of columbia. now xcel energy said it spent nearly $2 billion already to upgrade its grid. now it needs customers to help kick in for the improvements, heidi. >> stay with me here. if the goal toys make the system

more efficient, can we expect to some day pay less to power our homes even if we're paying a little more over the next year or two? >> reporter: yeah. and that's a reasonable way to look at it. the power companies basically use that argument to get rate hikes approved in the first place. now, the problem is that it's still pretty hard to sell a rate hike in a recession. pending rate hikes are facing opposition from officials who say companies just can't burden cash-strapped americans with the added expense. but the u.s. department of energy estimates that implementing smart grid technologies could save businesses and consumers over $20 billion over the next 20 years. it also says new technology will create tens of thousands of new jobs. so pay now and it will help you in the long term. so it's feasible to think of it as an investment in new technology, heidi. >> what about the government's investment in new technology, the economic stimulus. the obama administration has been pushing for new smart grid technology for a long time, more efficiency. is there money behind that

rhetoric then? >> reporter: well, apparently there is. the doe says about $4.5 billion from the economic recovery and reinvestment act have gone to the power companies for grid improvement and government funds in many cases have been matched by private companies, cities and the power companies themselves. but these are big projects so utilities are forcing their customers to contribute as well. so it's one of those things to see how these rate hikes go up but i'm sure a lot of people will wait to see if the rates come back down after things get more efficient, heidi. >> yes, they will. stephanie elam, thank you. >> sure. the mayor of kabul, a potential poster boy for afghanistan's corruption problem. he's still running the city, even though he's been sentenced to prison. alternative energies, solar, wind. and there are vast resources of oil and natural gas here in the u.s. that are untapped. we're able now to access oil and gas a mile down and seven miles out. we can do this safely.

we can do it in an environmentally friendly way, and provide enough energy to fuel 50 million cars and 100 million homes for 25 years. someone needs to lighten up. ( women sing ) ♪ priceline negotiator! ( coughs ) - no vacation? - ( laughing ) i can't afford it. you can if you name your own price. - i don't know how. - it's easy. priceline has insider deals-- empty hotel rooms, open plane seats. ( laughing ) you can save up to half off! that's a great deal! saving money is no laughing matter. ( laughs ) man: there are millions of colours in this world. but in business, only two matter: red and black. red, well, no one wants that. black, on the other hand, has strength. black is always in style. it's what business looks best in. black is where growth and success happen,

and it's easier to get there and stay there in ontario, canada. especially with our competitive tax rate. ontario, canada. the world works here. even after waiting a month for my appointment, and spending two hours in the chair. there's nothing like feeling the open air freedom of my jeep wrangler.

to make vanity... fly right out the window. i live. i ride. i am. jeep. i want to quickly get to today's blog question, but first we want to show you the video of what we're asking about today. take a look at this now. caught on camera, a woman who is nine months pregnant comes to the rescue of a police officer in trouble. she says she couldn't just stand by and do nothing, so we asked you the question. you see her there in the pink. would you do the same thing or do you think she took too big of a risk being nine months pregnant? here now are some of your responses. rafael writes this, this woman was very brooif, but she did the right thing. if it was me, i would have done the exact same thing. jenny writes do you think this woman would still be called a hero if her baby was killed in the struggle?

i have children and would never put them at risk, no matter if it was a cop i was saving or not. yolanda writes this, i would have had to think about the well-being of my baby and myself. she did a great thing, but i would have moved out of harm's way and beared witness if the teens got away. remember, we always love to hear from you. just go ahead and log on to cnn.com/heidi to share your comments and we always appreciate them. corruption in afghanistan, it's a persuasive problem that the obama administration is demanding president hamid karzai tackle head on. but karzai's critics say he is not. and they say proof of their claims can be found right in the capital of kabul. cnn's frederick was there. >> reporter: this is kabul's mayor at work. that might not seem like news, except that abdul ahad sahebi has just been convicted for corruption. >> it's baseless, without any

foundation, without any evidence. >> reporter: sahebi was sentenced to four years in prison after being judged guilty of awarding a city construction contract without bidding, but the mayor is not in jail, and he's still running the city. that makes afghanistan's deputy attorney general angry. the court has ordered his dismissal, he says, so everything he's doing now is illegal. the matter goes to the heart of nato's new strategy in afghanistan. additional soldiers can bring short-term security, but the u.s. says afghanistan' government needs to crack down on rampant corruption as well. afghanistan's president said he'd make it a top pry tore tee. he created a new anti-corruption task force. their first high profile case, the mayor of kabul. this case was investigated and then forwarded to the attorney general, then to the court and then the court issued its

verdict, the chairman says, and still you take our action as a show. both a show and a farce, says kabul's mayor. he shows me documents he says prove afghanistan's attorney general was trying to get him to illegally evict people from land plots in the city. when he refused, he was busted on what he says are totally baseless claims. >> it is clear there are some people, some groups who their personal benefit is in danger. >> reporter: the u.n.'s aenvoy o afghanistan seems unimpressed with the efforts to clamp down on corruption. >> i fear a situation where the discussion of new commissions and new structures will lead to postponement of actually addressing the problems that exist. >> reporter: afghanistan's government says it's trying to address those problems. the results so far, a mayor convicted of corruption, still in office, accusing the

country's anti-corruption body of being corrupt. i also want to let you know general stanley mcchrystal will sit down with christey iane amanpour sunday, 2:00 p.m. eastern. color barriers broken down on film as disney casts its first black princess. ta-da! (announcer) buick enclave, offering heated and ventilated front seats, quiet tuning technology and touch screen navigation. (dad) what do you think? it's beautiful thanks honey.

disney is diversifying its royal lineup after years of featuring caucasian princesses in its blockbusters, it is breaking new ground and making history with its first african-american princess. here's corrine winter. >> one more time, it didn't matter what you look like. >> reporter: or does it? check out disney's new leading lady, tiana. >> i suppose you want a kiss? >> reporter: she's the studioest first black princess and many are taking notice, even students at los angeles' clover ann elementary. >> did you see anything at all that was different that, stood out from perhaps other disney movies? >> tiana was african-american. >> reporter: the third and fourth graders had no problems sharing their thoughts about disney's new animation film, "the princess and the frog" which they screened inside their classroom. >> there's a first time for everything and i think this was a really good start. >> i think it's good diversity.

>> reporter: when it comes to diversity, disney has come a long way since snow white in the 1930s. >> what a cute little chair. >> reporter: since then there have been just three ethnic princess, the native american pocahontas, mulan and jasmine from aladdin. the question is in the fantastic world of fairy tale -- >> does skin color really matter? >> it kind of isn't fair because they should have had one a little earlier. it took them forever to figure out maybe we should have an african-american princess. >> reporter: one of the an merits agrees. >> it's about time. i think absolutely it's about time. >> reporter: what took so long since the introduction of snow white? >> i don't know what took so long, i'll be honest with you. we were there with different ethnicities before this film. maybe we needed to do those other films before we could actually do tiana. >> reporter: and like some princesses before her, eric goldberg says tiana is already a marketing machine. >> everybody